


sugar and snow

by eternal_sky



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Banter, Fluff, Lee Taeyong is Whipped, M/M, Mutual Pining, Piggyback Rides, Snowball Fight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:21:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27948974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternal_sky/pseuds/eternal_sky
Summary: “We could stop by the cafe,” Taeyong offers. “Maybe get hot cocoa or something. The weather’s perfect.”Ten visibly perks up at that, energized by the mere thought of something sweet. When they finally reach the exit, he turns to Taeyong, eyes shining with mischief.“Loser pays!” he grins, and within a second he bolts, leaving a stunned Taeyong behind.There’s no way he can ignore that competitive spark Ten always ignites in him, “Oh, you’re on!”
Relationships: Lee Taeyong/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten
Comments: 17
Kudos: 83





	sugar and snow

“Hell is officially _over_ ,” Ten sighs blissfully, throwing his head back onto the lounge chair. “You didn’t have to wait for me, y’know….”

“I said I didn’t mind,” Taeyong hums. A gentle smile graces his lips as he turns to properly face Ten, “How was your final?”

“I either got everything right or failed completely.”

Taeyong snorts lightly. “I’m sure you did fine, Ten.” He pauses for a moment, lowering his voice a bit, “You’re one of the smartest people I know.”

Although he’s probably said it a million times, Ten’s reaction is always the same. His cheeks stain with the prettiest pink color and he stutters slightly, so shy of the praise he deserves more than anything. Taeyong takes every given opportunity to see it even if it’ll earn him a slap to the arm each time.

Pleased, Taeyong slings his laptop bag over his shoulder and rises from the couch. He extends his hand, “Ready to go?”

Ten takes it and lets Taeyong tug him to his feet. They walk down the stairs slowly, Ten chattering away about his exam, Taeyong more than happy to listen.

When they first met, Ten was so quiet and insecure with his limited Korean, afraid to slip up while speaking. Now, to see him ramble on and on about advanced topics fills Taeyong with a certain pride. Ten is brilliant in every sense of the word.

Taeyong also likes to think he’s memorized all the different voices Ten has for each of his moods. Today, his sentences are a bit more accented and jumbled together, brain and tongue out of sync.

This particular Ten is always a bit of a wild card— overworked and on a caffeine high. Johnny had texted him at three in the morning, complaining that Ten wouldn’t stop studying to turn off the light and sleep.

(Taeyong only saw the messages when he woke up this morning, but promised not to give him more coffee before the cycle repeated itself.)

He steals a glance out of the window, at the glistening snow.

“We could stop by the cafe,” Taeyong offers. “Maybe get hot cocoa or something. The weather’s perfect.”

It’s always a bit of a walk, having to go off-campus, but they still have an hour or so of sunlight left.

Ten visibly perks up at that, energized by the mere thought of something sweet. When they finally reach the exit, he turns to Taeyong, eyes shining with mischief.

“Loser pays!” he grins, and within a second he bolts, leaving a stunned Taeyong behind.

He laughs to himself briefly, breath condensing in the cold air. There’s no way he can ignore that competitive spark Ten always ignites in him, “Oh, you’re on!”

And with that, he’s chasing Ten across the campus, scooping snow off the railings as he runs down the stairs, trying to aim at him properly.

They weave through the crowd with ease; they’ve done this countless times before. Ten had started this little competition randomly one day.

(“To keep you on your toes, hyung,” Ten had told him, grinning, to which Taeyong could only respond, “You’re gonna give me a heart attack.”)

Ten’s spontaneity, though, is something that Taeyong doesn’t think he’ll ever get tired of, or the rush of adrenaline that comes with it. It’s not the running making his heart pound, Taeyong knows, but that’s not something he’s ready to admit out loud.

“Careful!” he hisses when Ten runs over a patch of ice, but the younger isn’t bothered in the slightest. His newfound energy is almost comical.

Taeyong pays no mind to the direction they’re running in. If it’s the complete opposite side of the campus, so be it— he’d chase that beautiful smile to the ends of the Earth.

He only stops briefly to apologize to someone he bumped into, catching up easily when he sees Ten crouching to pack more snow in his hands.

“Aha!” Taeyong perches himself on a tree stump and prances around mockingly. “I have the higher ground, surrender!”

He laughs at Ten’s frustrated face, ducking as a snowball flies over his head.

He squeezes his eyes shut and sticks his tongue out. But when he opens them again, Ten is gone. He glances around, trying to catch sight of him, to no avail.

“Hey! Where’d you—?“ he cuts himself off as a snowball hits the middle of his back. “Oh.”

Footsteps bound towards him, bubbly laughter growing louder and louder, at which Taeyong can’t help but smile. He slumps forward with a grunt as Ten jumps onto his back, limbs wrapping around Taeyong.

“I win!” Ten sing-songs.

“Yeah, yeah,” Taeyong scoffs jokingly, hefting Ten up by his thighs to get a better grip. He takes a mental note to add ‘back pain’ to the list of things Ten makes him feel, right between ‘butterflies’ and ‘mild frustration’. But no matter how often he may threaten to drop him, he carries Ten all the way to the campus gates.

***

“Taeyongie?” Ten’s breath comes out as a puff of warm air against Taeyong’s neck, effectively raising goosebumps on his skin. He doesn’t trust himself to form real words, not with Ten speaking in that honeyed tone, so he only hums in response as he sets him down. “I know the deal was hot cocoa, but can I get coffee instead?”

Taeyong pretends to think and shakes his head, “I’m not fueling your caffeine addiction anymore.”

Ten makes a sulky noise in the back of his throat. Taeyong feels himself wavering, the thought of _‘one cup wouldn’t hurt’_ creeping into his head, but he brushes it away.

“It’s just for energy, Yong, I’m not _addicted_ ,” Ten continues to huff.

“You wouldn’t need so much _energy_ if you actually slept.”

“How do you—“

“Mhm, don’t think I don’t know about the all-nighter you pulled studying for bio.”

“Johnny’s a snake,” he hears Ten mumble. Taeyong will have to thank his giant friend later, maybe buy him a coffee, but he isn’t so cruel as to do it right now.

“Did you want anything else?”

“Just hot cocoa is fine.”

The door chime jingles as they enter, the warmth of the cafe greeting them immediately. Taeyong takes in a lungful of the vanilla-scented air.

From the looks of it, the line is a bit lengthy, but there's a steady flow of people moving to the pick-up section, the tables, and the exit. He ushers Ten to find somewhere to sit and joins the other people waiting to order.

“Next, please,” the cashier eventually calls.

“I’ll have two hot chocolates, only one with whipped cream... oh, and two of these, please,” he says, pointing to a slice of cake in the display case. He fishes for his wallet and hands the bills to the woman, dropping the change he gets into the tip jar with a tiny smile.

“Thank you,” she smiles back, as Taeyong gathers the small plates of cake and walks to the other side of the counter.

As he waits for his number to be called, he glances around the cafe for Ten. His eyes linger a little too long on the various couples that are seated and desperately tries to fight the growing blush on his cheeks. They’re all sharing milkshakes, or holding hands across the table, if not outright kissing under the boughs of mistletoe dotted about.

Eventually, he finds Ten sitting at a booth near the windows. The view doesn’t really help Taeyong’s heated face— Ten’s silhouetted side profile, the pinkish sky, golden light flooding the room.

He hopes he doesn’t look as red as he feels when he picks their drinks up.

When he returns to the table, Ten doesn’t notice him at first, quietly singing along to the Christmas carol playing from the cafe’s speakers and looking outside. He stops abruptly when he hears things being set down on the table.

“What’s all this?” Ten asks, frowning slightly at the cake. Taeyong freezes in the middle of sitting down. He scans over the slice again, making sure there’s no fruit, looking back up when there isn’t.

“Angel’s food cake. Is that ok? I didn’t think you’d want more chocolate, but I could—“

“No! It’s not that—“ Taeyong furrows his brows further, “—but you didn’t have to...”

He relaxes and fully settles into the booth, smiling, “It’s my treat, Ten. You deserve it.”

But Ten continues to fidget with a napkin, “How much was it, at least?”

“Not enough for you to be concerned about,” he insists, handing him a plastic fork. “Come on.”

 _“Taeyong,”_ he whines. Taeyong continues to wave the utensil in front of him, until Ten relents. “Thank you,” he whispers, taking it from his hand. Warmth blooms in Taeyong’s chest.

They fall into natural conversation between bites of cake and sips of their drinks— plans for the holidays, their friends’ antics, the pretty sunset.

“Tennie, you’ve got a little…” Taeyong motions to the whipped cream smeared on his cheek.

“Oh,” he tries to wipe it off, “is it gone now?”

Taeyong shakes his head, and Ten tries again, still not quite getting it.

“Come closer,” Taeyong mumbles, prompting Ten to lean forward. He delicately thumbs it away, his touch trailing ever-so-lightly over the small scar on his cheek.

The setting sun makes Ten’s eyes glow amber as he looks back at him. Taeyong feels completely transparent under his gaze.

“Is that it?” Ten murmurs.

Taeyong studies how his eyelashes cast fluttering shadows over his cheeks, how his nose is sharpened further by the light. He finds his thumb wandering to the corner of Ten’s parted lips to rub another spot of frosting away.

“Yeah,” he says hoarsely. He retracts his hand slowly, eyes still trained on his lips, at the way Ten’s tongue instinctively peeks out to wet them afterwards.

He clears his throat and breaks eye contact, feeling himself flush down to his neck. “We should get going.”

“Y-yeah.”

***

The trip back to the dorms is far less energetic, but equally as enjoyable. They walk side by side, knuckles brushing every so often in near-silence, the only sounds being passersby or the occasional car. All the while Taeyong’s heart threatens to beat out of his chest.

“Night, Ten. See you tomorrow,” he says, once they’ve reached the door to Ten’s dorm. He’s about to walk off before Ten speaks again.

“Taeyong,” Ten calls. “Thank you for today.”

“Of course. The cafe isn’t that special for an end of the semester treat, though, so…” He shoves his hands in his pockets.

Ten quirks a brow, amused, “So…?”

“We could go somewhere more interesting, sometime, if you want to…?” Taeyong rubs his nape, gaze flickering between the floor and Ten. “It doesn’t really have to be for anything, just the two of us, hanging out.”

Something shifts in Ten’s fox-like eyes. He always looks like he knows something, and he probably does see straight through Taeyong's intentions, because he smiles teasingly:

“Are you finally asking me on a real date?”

Taeyong malfunctions.

“I…” he flushes red. At what exactly, he doesn’t know. Ten’s smile? The fact that he called it a real date? The fact that he _smiled_ while calling it a real date?

And what does _"finally"_ mean?

It has to mean something...right?

Taeyong decides he’s been afraid for long enough.

“...I guess I am.”

He takes a deep breath, meeting his eyes again, more confident this time.

“Would you like to go on a date with me, Ten?”

Ten’s smile morphs into something of relief and joy, chuckling lightly as his eyes curve into warm crescents. “I would.” 

Relief washes over Taeyong, and he finds himself lost for words again. He doesn't really know what to do with himself, but Ten solves that for him.

He presses a parting kiss to Taeyong's jaw. “See you soon, Taeyong.”

Before he can do anything else, Ten disappears behind his door. Taeyong is left smiling like a fool in the hallway, thoughts of sugar and snow replaying in his mind for the rest of the night.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading ♥️
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this, feel free to play with me in the comments! 
> 
> merry xmas to those that celebrate! possible first date chapter coming soon?
> 
> find me on [twitter!](https://twitter.com/perpetuumcaelum)


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